What's New?

Intel® Network Builders had a fantastic presence at MWC this year, with over 90 of our members having a presence at the show. We had demos in the Intel booth highlighting everything from mobile edge computing (MEC)—with ACS demonstrating their Smart Perimeter solution that featured Quortus, PoLTE, and other ecosystem partners in an immersive digital media and retail experience—to OpenStack Enhanced Platform Awareness, demonstrated by Gigaspaces on a VMware NFVI platform. Outside of the Intel booth, we had ASOCs demonstrating vRAN for DAS (distributed antenna system); Affirmed Networks in several partner booths demonstrating their virtual EPC; TCS demonstrating VoLTE with Brocade, Metaswitch, and Ixia; and many other partners demoing solutions throughout the show.*

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Intel® Network Builders Launches University Program

During Mobile World Congress, Intel announced the launch of the Intel® Network Builders University, a comprehensive network infrastructure and network transformation training program encompassing network functions virtualization (NFV), software defined networking (SDN), mobile edge computing (MEC), 5G, and traditional legacy networks, as well as training on Intel and open source technologies helping drive advancements in the industry. This training program caters to any professional wanting to learn more about these topics, and it also offers additional training opportunities for Intel Network Builders partners and end users.

Intel Network Builders University offers courses for both the general public and Intel Network Builders members on our website, and will offer in-person training opportunities as well. Read about the program details in this blog post by Renu Navale, Director of Intel Network Builders.

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Livecasts from Mobile World Congress

At Mobile World Congress, Intel conducted a variety of live interviews with Intel® Network Builders members and technology leaders. They discussed diverse topics from the conference, including 5G and network transformation. Listen to the discussions from Day 1 and Day 2 of the event.

Intel Leaders Discuss the Network of the Future

In conjunction with Mobile Word Congress, members of Intel's leadership discussed the technologies shaping the network of the future, including 5G, network functions virtualization (NFV), and software defined networking (SDN). Read their perspectives on the progress being made in network transformation today, and their predictions for the months and years ahead.

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Technical Spotlight

Creation of Fast Data Open Source Project (FD.io)*

On February 11, the Linux Foundation* announced the creation of a new open source project focusing on providing an I/O services framework for the next wave of network and storage software. Initial code contributions for the Fast Data Project (FD.io)* include Vector Packet Processing (VPP) technology being donated by one of the project's founding members, Cisco.* The initial release of FD.io is fully functional and available for download, providing an out-of-the-box vSwitch/vRouter utilizing the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) for high-performance, hardware-independent I/O. The initial release will also include a full build, tooling, debug, and development environment and an OpenDaylight* management agent. FD.io will also include a Honeycomb* agent to expose netconf/yang models of data plane functionality to simplify integration with OpenDaylight and other SDN technologies.

Future contributions from the open source community and FD.io members are expected to extend FD.io capabilities in areas such as firewall, load balancing, LISP, host stack, IDS, hardware accelerator integration, additional SDN protocol support via additional management agents, and other critical I/O services for network and storage traffic.

The full press release announcing the project is available here. Further details are also available in the on the project website.

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Partner News
& Collaboration

With a cloud computing environment located in close proximity to the end device, MEC adapts the mobile network and enables it to support a wide variety of IoT applications. Saguna's* Open-RAN* is a software-based MEC solution. The fully virtualized platform provides an open environment for running third-party MEC applications.

Companies are investing record amounts in information security, yet they are still losing millions of dollars annually due to data breaches. Sideband Networks'* solutions leverage behavioral analytics to identify bad actors on corporate networks and help operations teams stop breaches before they occur.

In this solution brief, read about how Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI)* has developed virtual small cell gateway and evolved packet core (EPC) systems, leveraging the Intel® Open Network Platform Server (Intel ONP Server), to give mobile network operators a flexible and high performance tool to build out dense small cell networks.

This white paper demonstrates how the RIFT.ware* network service virtualization platform, taking advantage of key Intel technologies, brings automation and Web-scale capabilities to virtualized network services. The paper also discusses Benu Networks'* next-generation Virtual Service Edge (VSE),* which takes advantage of key RIFT.ware and Intel technologies and offers a new class of subscriber management, scale, and intelligence that can stitch network layer service logic into cloud service delivery.

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Partner Summits

Ecosystem Meetup at Mobile World Congress

Thank you for attending the Ecosystem Meetup at Mobile World Congress 2016. Hosted by Intel, OPNFV, Cisco, Dell, Ericsson, HPE, Huawei, Nokia, Red Hat, and Wind River,* the event gathered hundreds of network professionals for an evening of peer-to-peer engagement, live music, and great Catalan cuisine.

For more information about upcoming events and to register for our summits and workshops, please visit the Intel Network Builders' members portal.

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, Casa Systems* launched Axyom,* an ultra-broadband edge platform designed to address all these challenges. Casa's Axyom is a fully virtualized, integrated multi-access solution that delivers multi-standard access functions for 3G/4G cellular and trusted/untrusted Wi-Fi access. The Axyom 1RU rack is Intel® Xeon® processor-based and is deployable on premises, at the network edge or at a centralized location, and contains a suite of virtual network functions, including SeGW, HNB/HeNB GW, ePDG, MPC, and EPC (MME, SGW and PGW). These features are designed to help providers simplify their access networks with a single software platform that provides security, management tools, and the ability to provide end users with the highest quality of experience. Based on open source technology, the Axyom platform is engineered for multi-dimensional optimization and leverages the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) and Intel® QuickAssist Technology, resulting in dramatic performance gains. For more information about the Axyom platform, visit the Casa Systems website.

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Upcoming
Opportunities

The Hub

For our ecosystem's latest news, podcasts, webinars, blog posts, and more, visit The Hub. Recent contributions from our community have included the following:

Podcast: "OpenStack for Carrier-Grade Cloud," with Kamesh Pemmaraju, Vice President of Product Marketing at Mirantis* - Listen On Demand

Podcast: "Managing the Network Services of the Future," with Chris Simon, Director of the Service Provider and NFV Business Unit at Dorado Software* - Listen On Demand

Webinar: "ASOCS vRAN: From 4G to 5G and beyond!," with Eran Bello, VP Products and Marketing at ASOCS* - Watch On Demand

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Join the Conversation on Twitter and NetworkIn

Intel® Network Builders offers a variety of online options for you to reach out to fellow ecosystem members between events:

Follow @IntelNetwork on Twitter or use the Intel Network Builders hashtag, #IntelNetwork.

Connect directly with ecosystem members through NetworkIn, the Intel Network Builders online collaboration tool, available through the member portal of the Intel Network Builders website.